Scam victims lose thousands of dollars

Exotic birds, the IRS and Publisher’s Clearing House were named separately by con artists who swindled two residents of Sterling Heights out of thousands of dollars and tried to cheat a third, police reported.

In the first incident, an 84-year-old resident of Hamlet Drive told authorities he received a telephone call Tuesday from someone claiming to be from Publisher’s Clearing House stating he won $55,000 in cash and a new Mercedes Benz.

The caller told the man to send $735 via a Green Dot pay card but didn’t need to bother sending any additional personal information about him because they already had those details, police said. The man was told that a man and a woman would arrive later in a red car to complete the transaction.

“He became suspicious, contacted his son and they called police,” Sterling Heights police Lt. Luke Riley said.

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Officers waited in the area but the culprits never arrived.

Two other residents weren’t as lucky.

A 43-year-old man responding to an advertisement on Craigslist for two African Gray parrots priced at $300 each was told to send money via a money card. Ironically, the man suspected the incident might be fraudulent because of that payment request, so he decided to only buy one of the birds. The resident of Foothill Drive subsequently was instructed to pay $800 for insurance, police reported. He complied again. Later, the “seller” convinced the resident to pay $1,250 for a needed permit or license, saying the money would be reimbursed upon delivery of the parrot. Again, the victim agreed.

The bird never arrived.

Cheated out of $2,350, the victim has continued to receive text messages from the swindler.

On Wednesday, a woman residing on Terrybrook Drive reported that a man claiming to represent the Internal Revenue Service told her she had unpaid taxes going back to 2006 and needed to pay up to avoid three years in jail, police stated.

The con artist told her to get six money cards totaling $2,900. Upon providing the PIN number to each card, she purportedly would receive an email showing her debt was erased. She fell for the ruse, causing the unknown male caller to continue requesting more money.

Responding to reports of such threats for taxes owed, the IRS and police say the agency does not reach people by phone to inform them about income tax issues.

Riley said con artists keep developing new schemes to bilk people out of their money.

“They get these people once, and they keep dragging them along. And as long as they pay, they do it. They’ve got a willing participant and will milk it as long as they can for as much as they can,” he said.

Police offered this advice:

• Use secure forms of payment like PayPal.

• Be very suspicious of any deals that sound too good.

• When selling something, accept only the agreed-upon amount.

• When agreeing to accept any form of check as payment, wait until the payment clears the bank it’s drawn upon – often 10 days – before releasing an item to a buyer.

• Be wary of any immediate demand for cash card payment or wiring of funds.